How would a socialist system keep workers industrious?
What would be the penalty, if any, for a worker becoming lazy on the job? ___________________________________________________ In socialist society, as in capitalist society, there would be both material and moral (or ideological) incentives for workers to be productive. However, the character of both kinds of incentives would change — for the better. It should be understood from the start that by “socialist society,” we are not referring to the class-ruled bureaucratic system in the Soviet Union nor to any system with nationalized or state-run industries. We are referring to a genuine socialist society based on social ownership and workers’ collective, democratic control of the means of production. We underscore that because the widespread view that socialism “doesn’t work in practice” since “there’s no incentive to produce” stems from the wrongful association of socialism with the moribund Soviet economy. From our perspective, it is no surprise at all that workers’ incentive to be pr
