ECONOMY
9.6 THE ECONOMY
magazine Nuestra industria, Revista Economica (Our industry, A Journal oj Economics) in February 1964 (ibid., 184).
In the piece Guevara cites some key Marxist theorists, with a quotation from Marx's historic 'Economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844' forming the basis of his ensuing arguments:
Communism [is] the positive transcendence of private property as human self-estrangement, and therefore as the real appropriation of the human essence by and for man; communism therefore as the complete return of man to himself as a social (i.e., human) being - a return accomplished consciously and embracing the entire wealth of previous development. This communism, as fully developed naturalism, equals humanism, and as fully developed humanism equals naturalism; it is the genuine resolution of the conflict between man and nature and between man and man - the true resolution of the strife between existence and essence, between objectification and self-confirmation, between freedom and necessity, between the individual and the species. Communism is the riddle of history solved, and it is conscious that it is this solution (Marx cited in EG 1964/2003q, 185, editor' s emphases).
In his essay Guevara also proceeds to cite Lenin 10 and Oskar Lange II at length, in essence arguing that the reintroduction of capitalist laws in the Soviet Union does not imply that similar measures should be undertaken in Cuba (EG 1964/2003q, 190-91). Guevara argues that an analysis of the economic system used in the USSR, for instance, reveals that there is a conceptual difference between that system and the Cuban one, one 'perhaps comparable to the one that exists in the capitalist camp between competition and monopoly' (EG 1964/2003q, 191). He contends that basic to the budgetary finance system is the understanding that the building of communism is a 'goal of humanity', which should be achieved consciously. Therefore, education, 'the elimination of the vestiges of the old society', is additionally important. Guevara cautions that, without parallel advances in production, such a society will never be achieved' (EG 1964/2003q, 190).
In the same piece Guevara argues overall that his plan, if properly developed, can increase the 'effectiveness' of economic management of the socialist state and simultaneously 'deepen the consciousness of the masses' . Through
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cooperative measures this can further strengthen the bonds of the world socialist system (ibid., 191).
Though he does not deny 'the objective need for material incentives' (ibid., 194), Guevara believes that if this should become the main lever of society, it will translate into a return to capitalism, something socialism is supposed to eradicate in the first place (ibid., emphasis added). The struggle against the predominance of material incentives for him goes hand in hand with the struggle to develop a 'socialist morality' (ibid.). As such Guevara maintains that the development of consciousness does more for the development of production than material incentives do (ibid., 194):
What we want to achieve with the budgetary system is for the lever not to become something that compels the individual either individually or collectively - to struggle desperately with others in order to assure certain conditions of production or distribution that would put him in a privileged situation (EG 1964/2003q, 210, emphasis added).
In his critique of the USSR's Manual of Political Economy 12 Guevara cites he following passage from the document which, for him, serve to strengthen the development and employment of 'the law of value', something he perceives is integral to capitalist relations:
Commodity production, the law of value, and money will disappear only when the higher stage of communism is reached. But in order to make the disappearance of commodity production and circulation possible in the higher stage of communism, it is necessary to develop and use the law of value as well as monetary and commodity relations during the period when the communist society is being built (Manual of Political Economy cited in EG 1964/2003q, 200, editor's emphases).
In response to this, Guevara strongly contests the development of the law of value, advancing the propostion that it is precisely during the transition period that society 'rids itself of its 'old bonds' and 'old categories' (EG 1964/2003q, 200) to enter into the stage of socialism. In his denigration of the Manual, Guevara asks,
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Why develop [the law of value]7 We understand that the capitalist categories are retained for a time and that the length of this time cannot be determined beforehand. But the characteristics of the transition period are those of a society throwing off its old bonds in order to arrive quickly at the new stage. The tendency must be, in our opinion, to eliminate as vigorously as possible the old categories, including the market, money, and, therefore, the lever of material interest - or to put it better, to eliminate the conditions for their existence (ibid., editor's emphases).
Guevara goes on to highlight his rejection of consciously using the law of value in the absence of a free market. As he also puts it, • We reject the existence of the commodity category in relations among state enterprises. We consider all such establishments to be part of the single enterprise that is the state (although in practice this has not yet happened in our country), (EG 1964/2003q, 201).
Guevara believes 'centralised planning' lies at the heart of socialist society, perceiving it to be not only its central attribute, but the point at which 'man's consciousness finally succeeds in synthesizing and directing the economy toward its goal: the full liberation of the human being ... ' (ibid.). The final passages of 'On the budgetary finance system' call attention to the role of the Cuban ruling party in 'transforming the work center' as it is this mechanism that determines 'the collective expression of the workers' aspiration and concerns and a place where their desire to serve society will take shape' (ibid., 211). He concludes the piece, thus, 'One could think of the work center as the basis of the future society'S political nucleus' (ibid.).