Ethical Socialism

Ethical Socialism is a variant of socialism practiced by the Socialist Party of Kalistan. Its primary features are ethical organization of economy and society, nationalism, focus on National Service, radical civil libertarianism and a strong commitment for democratic institutionalism.

Ethical Socialism is based on the philosophy of 19th Century Socialist author and theorist Edward Bennots, who was a prolific writer of his day, focusing primarily on romantic fiction, but occasionally delving into utopian theory. One such book, titled Ethical Socialism (1885) formed the theoretical foundations of the modern socialist movement in Kalistan, and was synthesized into the manifesto of the Socialist Party of Kalistan, which is Terra's primary practitioner of Ethical Socialism.

The focus on morality in society found in ethical socialism also greatly informed the work of Jonas Bennots-Plum (a distant relative) as he was re-founding the Society of Brethren in Kalistan in the early 20th Century.

Features of Ethical Socialism
The Features of Ethical Socialism are as follows
 * 1) Bennots.jpg The Ethical Arrangement of society and the Economy- Society can be arranged along moral lines. The implications of a moral arrangement of society require the individual to conform their interest to the needs of society.
 * 2) An ethically arranged society and economy naturally lead to socialism. Socialism is by definition, the promotion of social good over all things. The Ethical Socialist will say "If it is possible to have a moral society without socialism, we would promote the moral society. But we do not think it is possible."
 * 3) Feminism- The Ethical Socialist seeks to promote feminist ideals across the society, to include the active promotion of women in positions of power, gender equality in all offices and at all levels of power, pay equality and vigorous opposition to sexism and misogyny in all areas public and private.
 * 4) Internationally, the Ethical socialist promotes those things which lead to the Country's benefit first. This includes reciprocal trade, neutrality, anti-militarism, and peaceful relations with neighbors. It also includes high degrees of protectionism in the domestic Market, for the production of the needs of society first.
 * 5) Domestically, Ethical Socialism promotes production for need, not profit, full employment, zero net economic growth, promotion of a robust social safety net, free education, free primary health care, free food, progressive taxation, high national budget surpluses, and minimum basic Income.
 * 6) Institutionalism- Ethical Socialists are committed to the use of institutions to promote socialism. This includes a commitment to the constitutional rule of law, support for the institutions of Government, and a commitment to democratic elections and peaceful transitions in government. Ethical Socialists certainly promote a large public sector which is capable of bending society toward social good and prevent individual and corporate actors from abusing society for their individual benefit, but not so large that individual liberties are threatened in any way.
 * 7) Secularism and a commitment to a strict wall between the State and religion for the protection both of free religious observance and for protection of the State against incursion of parochial religion.
 * 8) Conservation and responsible use of the Environment- As a public good, the environment should be available for use, and consequently, Ethical Socialists tend to be moderate environmentalists who promote responsible usage of the Environment, and often seek laws which prevent private actors from polluting the environment.
 * 9) Commitment to the Dual Economy, with Public control of strategic sectors and sectors which supply human need, while private sector control in all areas which supply consumer demands.
 * 10) Radical commitment to Civil Liberties- The only way to ensure an active and engaged population is to ensure that all liberties in the public space are protected from an oppressive State
 * 11) Support for radical egalitarianism- Ethical socialists believe that all people are equal, and therefore deserve to be treated equally, both before the law and in all interpersonal relationships.
 * 12) Partisan Militarism- Ethical Socialists believe that citizens should have an unimpeded right to defend themselves and their country from fascists as well as an oppressive government. The Ethical Socialists support Party Militias.
 * 13) Opposition to State Power- Ethical Socialists seek to alter the balance of power between the State and the People, to the benefit of the People. Therefore, Ethical socialists seek a reduction of police power and abolition of prisons.
 * 14) Opposition to fascism, racism, and xenophobia- Ethical socialists feel these immoral Rightist ideologies are a symptom of an immorally arranged society determined by the needs of parochial capitalism. An reorientation toward socialism will allow the society to address these socio-pathologies.

Differences with Metzism
Ethical Socialism focuses primarily on the ethical arrangement of the society. According to Bennots, there is nothing inherently wrong with the concepts of the Market or with free enterprise. Said Bennots in 1887, shortly before his death

"Capitalism's problem involves what it considers ethical. An ideology itself cannot be wicked: it is what people do with it.  Capitalism produces wickedness because its ethic is based on prioritizing private gain over public need.  If we were to find a way to flip that formulation around, to prioritize public need first, there could be plenty of room for the normal activity of the private sector.  We think nobody should ever take seconds before everyone has firsts.  But once everyone has eaten and everyone is full, then the leftovers can be divvied up among those who really want them."

Role of the State and Party
Unlike the Metzists, Ethical Socialism did not envision the State as being the instrument that carries forward socialism. That role is reserved for the people themselves, and the state merely exists to remove barriers to the people's progress. As Bennots said:

"The State may open the door. The State may pave the road. The State may educate the children.  The State may make it possible for a person to fathom socialism.  But at the end of the day, it is the people, and not the state, who must do the work, who must walk through the door, who must walk down the road, who must act on their dreams for a better way.  The State is not the agent of social progress.  It merely exists to prevent retrograde segments of society from hindering social progress."

Bennots felt a similar way about the Party. Where Metz gives a starring role for a vanguard Party of professional revolutionaries, which ends up being an exclusive clique ruling in the name of some ill-defined "proletariat", Bennots saw no role for the Party in a revolution. He generally critiqued the political Party, in fact.

"We should not put our hopes for revolution in a political Party or faction. While governing in a society, the Party may indeed govern morally. But at the end of the day, the Party can only ever represent the interests and desires of a segment of the Population.  The platform of a Party, even a socialist Party based on ethical principles, must necessarily exclude some segments of the society who disagree.  They will not be the ones to bring about a moral, social revolution.  An ethical socialist Party is purely functional, and exists to serve the people.  One dedicated to moral principles will use the government like a tool, as the government is meant to be used to accomplish things that individuals themselves cannot accomplish.  The socialist Party will clear away roadblocks to the progress of the people, and dismantle the barricades between society and a better future for all.  But they will not lead the revolution itself-- if they try, they show themselves to be demagogues."

Property
The implication of this position is that Ethical Socialism differs dramatically from Metzism. Where Metzism and Communism work to abolish private property, the Ethical Socialist will argue that private property and even some degree of profit is not really the problem and can continue to exist even in a fully socialist society. It is the inequality that is generated by unbridled pursuit of profit.

"Ending the social inequality and hierarchy (both of which are moral outcomes) attached to differences in income and wealth (both of which are material inputs) should be our goal. Inequality and hierarchy are immoral and obscene in a society of plenty. If we take steps to eliminate that inequality, both of material conditions, as well as in the metaphysical sense of power that is derived from the inequality, we solve the problem itself. And when disease itself is cured, property and wealth can then be used to make all people's lives better and easier.  Until we resolve the moral implications of inequality, private possession of property and wealth merely exacerbates the immorality of the entire system."

Revolution
Ethical Socialism only calls for revolution in defense of the People's Rights and Freedom. Consequently, Ethical Socialists strongly oppose violating the law or creating civil disorder, unless obtaining one's goals is a real possibility, and has a decent probability of success, or unless war is the only resource. Bennots stated,

"It would be unethical to engage in fruitless revolution. You would merely doom a generation of men and women to either death or disunion. A Revolution which is guaranteed to lose is immoral. That said- there is no length that a socialist should not traverse in defense of the liberties of the People, which includes him and herself.  It is better to be at war for the rest of your life than to be ground to dust beneath the boot of a Fascist. It is better to be dead than to be a slave.  Whatever the potential outcome."

Ethical Socialists also do not place their hope for revolution on a Workers' Movement.

"The workers are just as parochial as the rulers, and they will produce precisely the same type of government and society. The only way to ensure peace following a revolution is to include significant portions of all segments of the Population in not only the execution of the Revolution, but also the planning of it. And then the Revolutionaries, those who committed the social vandalism that we call Revolution, need to be retired to a place where they can do no more damage to the fragile fabric of society."

Ethical Socialists also support institutions and elections. Bennots said,

"Elections do not produce societal change. But they do serve two important functions. One, they provide the people the opportunity to make their opinions known, while institutionally insulating them from the effects of demagogues and fascists.  Two, they also allow the government to demonstrate that it is clearing away the roadblocks to the progress of the people.  If the government is not involved in allowing society to progress, the people have a method of getting rid of the government short of violent destruction of society.  This 'pressure valve' permits people to vent their anger without the bloodletting associated with violent revolutions.  When democracy fails, bloodletting happens-  our goal must be to prevent that, while still allowing the people to push society in the direction they prefer."

Dialectics
Bennots rejected Metz' Dialectical materialism as a

"... false choice. It is not, nay, it has never been a situation where you either support the one side or you are automatically on the side of the opponent. There are never only two alternatives. Just like Morality, there is only more or less good, more or less evil, more or less noble, more or less base. There is something good in everything, but it only takes a bit of imagination to find it and bring it forth."

Consequently, Bennots rejected Metz' notion that within every system is the contradiction which will cause that system to collapse and bring forth a new system.

"The system itself must be changed, because in every new system there is always something left of the old. Complete replacement is not possible. The goal therefore must be to constantly focus on improvement, rather than destruction."

Rationalism
The Ethical Socialist assumes that man is both rational and pragmatic, and a rational and pragmatic individual will prefer socialism to capitalism. Society's advance toward socialism is therefore not driven by conflict over material, but by man's learning how to better allocate resources in an effort to stop repeating the same errors over and over which lead to speculative bubbles, boom and bust cycles and regular destructive periods under capitalism. For ethical socialists, the primary reason society changes is because people discover how to use their material environment to make their social environment better, and one of the biggest material problems is that people are denied access to the things they need to live a good, moral life. Instead, they are taught instead that amoral and immoral people get ahead in capitalism, and this for ethical socialists, shocks the consciences of good people. Bennots said:

"A rational man and a rational society, at the end of the day, act the same way. Yes, we do experience periodic insanity in our economic markets, where a rational man may look at some commodity price and see that it has doubled more or less overnight. And he may say to himself, 'I should buy now, because this commodity will be much higher tomorrow.'  And tomorrow, he will tell himself the same thing.  And then he will refrain from selling, on the promise that on the next day, the price will be even higher still.  But if on the fourth day, if he does not sell, he and every single other one of the people who think just as he does, who are holding the high priced commodity, will see the floor drop out from beneath their collective feet, as so many people on a trap door on a stage.  And who has pulled the lever?  Well, they have pulled their own lever, of course.  The speculative bubble burst, as all bubbles must, and they are left holding the bag. And who benefits? The Banks, of course, who own the debts incurred to purchase the commodity on margin, and who will then come to collect the money the rational investors borrowed in order to invest in overpriced commodities, in whatever manner allowable under the law! The banks only get richer, and what appears to be rational behavior is in fact nothing but collective irrationality.

Now- I believe, of course, that humans can learn from this repeat offense of capitalism. We may not want to, but we, as a species are shrewd enough to stand aside and let other fools jump off a cliff, and we are humane enough to attempt to warn them, but most importantly, we are intelligent enough to craft institutions, as a society, to prevent the boom and bust cycle all together. Then we will not spend our time and our lives cleaning up after the mess we have just prevented by using our heads and our hearts and doing what is good for society, though random individuals may not necessarily get as wealthy as they could have otherwise. Unless we do this, we continue to allow the society and the economy to repeatedly be run into the dirt, all for the benefit of a few, in hopes that next time, we will somehow miraculously be one of those 'few'. We would do better for ourselves if we focused our efforts in pursuit of more reasonable aspirations."

Differences with Liberalism and Popular socialism
Bennots held that liberal ideology prioritizes the individual over the group. While the result may be preferable for certain individuals, not all benefit, or will ever benefit from this arrangement. Bennots responded,

"Like a school of fish, a society must work together or the marginal risk to any one of us is maximized. You see- Fish school to protect them from being eaten. If you are a fish in a group of 1000 and a shark with an appetite for 10 fish comes along, the marginal risk to you individually is 1%. If you are in a group of 10 fish and the same shark comes along with the same tastes, the marginal risk to you is 100%, assuming you will not be able to outswim the shark. You might be, but if you are in the shark's menu, the probability of that is also negligible. We school, as humans as well, to share the marginal risk. Some of us will get eaten, this is certain. We have to, as rational beings then figure out how to limit the possibility that this 'some' equals 'me'. If I can take steps to reduce the risk of that outcome as much as humanly possible, I would be acting far more rational than if I simply took my chances on my own."

In this way, Ethical Socialism focused on how best to build the Society, rather than to prioritize the interests or the good of any segment of this society.

"Sure, the Society provides a more favorable environment for the pursuit of our own good. When we have security ensured, imagine what we can accomplish that we cannot when we are uncertain about where our next meal will come from. In Liberal society, only a few enjoy that sort of security. In a socialist society, that certainty is spread as far as possible, to cover as many people as possible, regardless of their individual merits or skills. Not doing things that deny others the same privileges you enjoy is the least Ethical Act a person could commit."

Liberal Democracy
The Ethical Socialist feels that democracy is not about the number of choices available, as liberal Democracy is, but the moral quality and excellence of those choices. An ethical socialist would be fine with one-Party rule, just so long as that one Party behaved morally while in office. The Ethical Socialist feels that the fewer the number of Parties, the greater the onus is on each of them to behave morally, but if one Party rules the country, and behaves morally for the people, no other Parties should challenge the Moral Party. Any who do are merely seeking parochial power, and cannot be trusted. Bennots said

""When you go to the store, you will see 14 different loafs of bread on the shelf. If you look at the ingredients, you will see that the ingredients are the same. When some person comes along and offers you a 'revolutionary' new type of bread, do you ever ask him, 'How revolutionary can this bread possibly be, with the same ingredients, the same shape, the same color, the same packaging?' In fact, it is just like every other loaf on the shelf, but this person is telling you this to get you to buy his particular brand. In fact, he is lying to you, in service to his own ends. Democracy which offers ten variations on the same thing, is precisely the same thing as this salesperson."

Welfare Statism and Popular Socialism
Ethical socialists oppose simply grafting welfare institutions onto Capitalism and leaving it as it is otherwise. Ethical Socialists are explicitly opposed to "Capitalism with a Human Face" policies of Popular socialism. They see popular socialism as a "trick" designed to take people's mind off the fundamental social change necessary to build an ethical society. Bennots said

"How easy it would be for a government to buy off the poor with treats! This does nothing, of course, to prevent their abusers from continuing their monstrous and immoral behavior. It does nothing to foster fraternity or a sense of community.  It merely serves to divide the society into mutually hostile camps:  Those who receive welfare benefits and jealously cling to those benefits, either out of desire for an easier life, or more often out of an intimate knowledge of the importance those benefits play in the barest maintenance of life, and those who seek to take them away from people they do not think have done anything to deserve them.  Welfare programs without corresponding social revolution is a trick played by patronizing do-gooders in the Government on the people of the society, a mere adhesive bandage placed over a heart wound.  It solves nothing-- it only makes things worse."

Property and Civil Liberties
For Bennots, Property, and all other civil liberties, were to be used not for the enhancement of individual life but for the betterment of society. Therefore, liberty was as protected from regulation and incursion by an oppressive state as possible.

"There is no such thing as individual rights and liberties. We acknowledge that I am free to scream at the top of my lungs whatever anti-social nonsense I can imagine when I am alone in my house, or alone in a cave. I need no rights protected there:  The practice of my rights do not affect anyone else.  It is when I enter the public space and attempt to exercise my rights that I run the risk of encroachment, and therefore, certainly need my liberties protected from someone else who could even rationally seek to limit my rights so their rights may be enhanced.  The price of protection of my freedom in the public space is adherence to law and the acceptance of social responsibility.  If I shirk my responsibilities to my society, the ones which keep my society running so that I can have a space where I do not fear to exercise my liberties, I should not expect to keep my liberty for long."

It is important to note that property was not to be construed in the capitalist sense as a commodity designed to be exploited for individual gain, but personal property such as a person's domicile, toothbrush, private automobile, etc.

Mandatory Civil Service
For Bennots, this responsibility inherent in free practice of civil liberties included mandatory Civil Service for all people.

"Your society is the one built and maintained with your own hands. If you contribute nothing to the health and well being of your society, both in a political sense and also in a very physical sense-- for our community requires upkeep and we do not seek a maternalist Government who will take care of everything for us-- you do not deserve to call the society yours. It is someone else's, and if you leave it up to the Government, it is theirs. But at any rate, you have not paid for the benefits of the society you enjoy, and are little better than so many leeches which inhabit some of our more tropical rivers."

But civil service served another major function for Bennots, besides living ethically. It served to soak up the excess labor force in society.

"Besides our metaphysical objectives, by which I mean, making a better society and making better citizens who actually have a stake in the health and wealth of their society, National Service takes youths, in the prime of their lives out of the Work force, where they work for the benefit of someone else. National Service spends the best, most productive years of these young people's work lives in the service of the Republic, where they work for themselves, to maintain the structures they will later use, to build the structures their children and grandchildren will someday use. It also ensures an artificial labor shortage, which increases market pressure toward higher wages and more power in the hands of the worker.  With National Service, it would only be a short time before we would achieve parity between Worker power and Employer power.  And no Boss would ever be allowed to underpay a worker for an hour of their lives ever again."

The "National Army"
Ethical socialists advocate nationalization of most key spheres, and build on the concept of the National Service Program. While Kalistan never fully adopted a national workforce organized in the form of an Army of Workers, as Bennots called for, the National Service Program does include some of the feature of Bennots' National Army. Said Bennots:

"Work for the Republic is guided by a sense of honor. Young men and women strive for the admiration of their peers. If the Nation were to organize and incentivize the workforce the same way they do their military, you would see only pure effort on the part of young people toward their Republic, driven by a desire-- a lust--  nay, a fetish for the admiration and esteem of their colleagues.  Just as soldiers strive for ribbons and badges to place on their uniform, and wear them proudly because they distinguish them for their heroism and bravery and valor and competence, so too will our young people strive for the rewards and promotion associated with excellence in their work.  This quest for recognition would make even the most dreary or dangerous job worth doing in the minds of someone.  And how much more interesting will the dangerous or undesirable service seem if a special commendation, which may be displayed to all, be attached to it? The National Army eliminates competition in the work force, and guarantees a certain zeal in one's work that one cannot achieve through mere payment of wages. It establishes discipline, instills civic virtue, and imparts a love of one's own efforts. If for no other reason than a person, while rational and generally good, is also vain and loves attention. And vanity and youth go hand and hand."

The Dual Economy
Bennots was a strong advocate for the Dual Economy, but his preference was for a parallel economy. For every business in the Private Sector, there would be an equivalent business in the Public Sector. Bennots envisioned this method as a way to ensure wages and fair treatment for workers.

"Workers should never have to choose between eating and paying rent. If employers know that a worker can just as easily get the same job in the public sector, rational calculation of capitalist will drive them to give workers adequate and fair compensation just to keep them. Naturally this will depress the profit margin for the investors, but the need of the many must outweigh the parochial wants of the few.  And it is the workers who create the wealth in any economy through their labor:  Never has it been said that wealth and general prosperity is created by a good manager!"

The Dual economy endorsed by later Ethical Socialists envisioned a different sort of Dual Economy, one where the Public Sector was used to ensure a Minimum basic Income and standard of living to all citizens, a living wage for all workers across the Republic, and national monopolies in certain key sectors of the economy, such as strategic minerals production, banking, energy and shipping. The Bennotsian style Dual Economy still exists to some degree in all "Public Option" enterprises throughout Kalistan, but is expressed most when basic need, like Primary Health Care and the National Food Bank, is met by the public sector, while elective wants, such as elective surgery, personally owned vehicles and televisions, and anything else which may be described as a "consumer good" are manufactured by the Private Sector. In this new type of Dual Economy, Citizens are freed from want and may spend their time how they like, but still must work to get the things they enjoy.

Ethical Socialism in Kalistan
Features of Ethical Socialism were introduced in the 1950s and came to full bloom in the 1960s, but saw a decline in influence in the early 1980s and were entirely rejected by the Kalistani government following early 1995. Ethical Socialism once more returned to the fore of Kalistani politics in 2008 and finally were re-enacted into law following the return of the Socialist Party of Kalistan in 2019. Between the adoption and modification of the dual economy (and the SP's softening toward it) and the adoption of various National economic institutions, Ethical Socialism is the bedrock upon which Kalistan's economy and society are built. Listed below are a few examples.

Notable Ethical Socialist Institutions in Kalistan

 * Doceus Rex University- A 4 year institution which specializes in Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, utilizing an "Each One, Teach One" Methodology which is widely held to be the forerunner of the National Service Program. Located in High Bong Neveras.
 * The National Food Bank- Established in 1965, Designed to ensure food to all free of charge, served the dual purpose of providing all people of the Republic fresh food options at a low cost, and guaranteeing price supports for Kalistani Farmers, to eliminate the effects of fluctuation in the food market
 * National Service Act- Originally passed in 1974 and reauthorized in 2019 after being cancelled by Liberal Government in 1998 to serious detriment to salaries and productivity, The NSA creates the National Service Program which essentially nationalized all tuition payments to institutions of higher education, thus tying recipients of free education in Kalistan to National Service. Students would attend all school as long as they wanted to, but in exchange they would serve the equivalent amount of time in the NSP, where they would spend their years maintaining the Republic and acquiring valuable life skills. When they finished their tour, they had no college debt, and could be free to make their decisions without worrying about how they were going to pay off a large loan.

Notable Institutions of the Dual Economy in Kalistan

 * Organization of Drug Exporting Nations- Nationalizes the purchasing and distribution of all drugs in Kalistan and throughout the world. Meant to guarantee a reliable supply of high quality drugs both of therapeutic and recreational varieties to Kalistan, and to provide a valuable source of foreign income in Kalistan
 * KALNAPECO- Charter for the Kalistani National Petroleum Company, Nationalizes Kalistani petroleum extraction, refining and sales throughout Kalistan and the World. Also, serves the Nationalized Energy market.
 * KALNAFERCO- The equivalent of KALNAPECO, but for ferro-minerals and steel. Establishes a National Foundry for refining and production of Steel.
 * KALMILINCO- The Nationalized National Military Industrial Corporation, aims to supply Kalistan with all the materials necessary to provide defense to the Republic
 * The Republican National Bank- Aimed at creating a stable basis for the Kalistani economy the National Bank acts as the depository of all tax receipts of the Republic, as well as the single Payee for all National Programs and Corporations.

Ethical Socialism Abroad
While Ethical Socialism as an ideology has not officially spread beyond Kalistan's borders, there is some evidence of the ideology's application in a few other nations. As of 2526, Lourenne's economy is beginning to adopt aspects of the Dual Economy, and there is some evidence that Vorona might adopt at least some features of the ideology.