Most of the entries in the SMP Compendium have dealt with the Work-Standard from within the borders of a single Socialist nation-state. The Socialist nation-state described could be any nation claiming to be Socialistic. How its Socialism was made into geopolitical reality is irrelevant; there really is no scientifically objective way of realizing Socialism and moving away from Liberal Capitalism. One has to remember that Liberal Capitalism is in final analysis an ideology that is a centuries-old product of the Enlightenment. And as an ideology, Liberal Capitalism is literature like Marxism and can become obsolete when it is finally proven to be impractical. A true Socialism, meanwhile, is tailored to the ontology and phenomenology of the people who constitute a Socialist nation-state as its Totality. Their Socialism will continue to exist so long as they continue to exist.
Concerns over how the Socialist nation-state engages in international trade will always be a given and that may depend on whether the current world order, the Liberal International Economic Order (LIEO), continues or not. The LIEO is Thomas Jefferson’s Empire of Liberty and as with any other empire, it will not last forever. It certainly will not last if the United States continues to find growing difficulties sustaining itself and its world order after the Coronavirus Pandemic. The world is waiting for the next phase of the 21st century. Therein lies the uncertainty, the anxiety which countless people in the Western world are fearful of. What will happen to the world when the LIEO dissolves? Can anyone seriously expect the People’s Republic of China to take over?
As the LIEO crumbles from its own incompetence and delusions of grandeur, there will be a multipolar world order of competing nations and an ever-changing web of alliances. Some form of cooperation will be needed to overcome issues affecting all of humanity on Earth like Climate Change. Outside of issues affecting all of humanity, anything goes so long as any alliance between nations remain mutually beneficial for their respective interests. If the Socialist nation-state of the SMP Compendium has been able to survive up to that point, it may now be in the position to consider an implementation of the Work-Standard across international borders.
It was once written by Friedrich Nietzsche that:
He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.
In the early 21st century, the world stares into an ever-growing abyss of Schuld. The world has been staring into that abyss since the death of Bretton Woods and the Gold Standard. The Schuld Standard, the idea of pegging Currency to Schuld as a form of Kapital, resembles a sort of financial nihilism. Everyone assumes this void is a given and nobody knows what shall fill the void because nobody is being themselves. What is truly scarce in the 21st century is not gold, silver, cryptocurrencies or semiconductors but Authentic Dasein; everyone gets to become anything they want to be except themselves. The demand for authenticity will continue to climb as time passes.
The current world order is ripe for change. The US Dollar will not remain as the World Reserve Currency forever. At some point, the changes to the current world order may become so great that institutions like the UN, IMF, World Bank, the EU/NATO, OECD and so forth cease to exist. In its place shall be multipolarity and that will be the Socialist nation-state’s chance. Together with a “World State Organization” (WSO), as covered in an earlier SMP Compendium entry, the Socialist nation-state would try to introduce a new World Reserve Currency by taking into account the multiplicity of different economic ways of life that exist in the world.
Every people from every nation-state have their own conception of Socialism. Tradition, culture, social norms and customs, language and religion can all affect any nation’s Socialism as much as how they interact with the dynamics of Arbeit and Geld. Council Democracy, the VCS Economy, State Commissariats and Kontore, NSFIs and Reciprocal-Reserve Banking, and all of the countless different amenities are quite flexible and can be remolded to address the needs of any nation-state. Given the predominant influence of Western Civilization, accommodations will be made and the diversity of different ways of economic life recognized and protected under the Work-Standard.
What has already been discussed about the Work-Standard within the Socialist nation-state is to be reapplied on a much larger scale to encompass the entire planet. Everything applies as they are, but with the involvement of the five most powerful nation-states. Power is to be measured in terms of political, economic, military-industrial, financial, spiritual and cultural powers. It may include the Socialist nation-state, if that nation-state achieves enough power and the reputation to command the respect and prestige of other nation-states. Those five nation-states, as an official function of the WSO, will introduce a World Reserve Currency pegged to their Currencies.
There is no need for this World Reserve Currency to replace foreign exchanges between peoples of different nation-states. Their Currencies and two separate Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs) will suffice in case of any changes to the Price of Exchange Rates by their Central Banks.
Furthermore, to accommodate this World Reserve Currency are two NSFIs, one for Arbeit and the other for Geld. The purpose of these two NSFIs will be to maintain sufficient reserves to address any issues affecting the planet. Denominated in the World Reserve Currency, they are to be owned solely by the States of various nations and can be converted into their national currencies. The arrangement will continue to be valid until the dissolution of the WSO or there is a conflict pitting the five major powers against each other. If the latter happens, it is possible for five other neutral nation-states to take over, which may last until the cessation of hostilities.
And just like the case of the Socialist nation-state, Schuld must be kept to a minimum in the case of the WSO. As the infamous Versailles Treaty had demonstrated after World War I, nothing good ever comes out of war reparation. It provides the losing nation-state to develop a deep-seated sense of revenge to address what its Totality perceives to be an injustice.
Categories: Compendium, Philosophy
The Fourth Estate 
Leave a Reply