Progressive utilization theory: Difference between revisions

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=== Economic democracy ===

In relation to democracy, Prout argues that political democracy is not enough to free society from exploitation and what it considers extreme income inequality.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":17">{{Cite web|url=http://www.online.southcentral.edu/students/instructors/MFMyROSEarticle.pdf|title=Living Wage and Optimal Inequality in a Sarkarian Framework|last=Friedman|first=Mark|date=2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308014454/http://online.southcentral.edu/students/instructors/MFMyROSEarticle.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-08|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> As [[Roar Bjonnes]], a known Proutist, states, "Unless we have deeper structural change – what we refer to as economic-systems change – we will never be able to solve such global and systemic problems as the environmental and inequality crises. History has demonstrated that political democracy is not enough."<ref name=":5" />

Prout, therefore, advocates an [[economic democracy]] where the decision-making power for the economic future of a community is given to its inhabitants. Economic democracy is not a new term, but Sarkar reinvents it by setting four requirements for what he considers a successful one.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite book|title=Proutist Economics: Discourses on Economic Liberation|last=Sarkar|first=Prabhat Ranjan|publisher=Ananda Marga Publications|year=1992|isbn=9788172520038}}</ref> The first and foremost requirement is guaranteeing the minimum requirements of life to all members of society. Secondly, and following one of the five fundamental principles, Prout argues that there should be an increasing purchasing capacity for each individual, stating that local people will have to hold economic power over their socio-economic region.<ref name=":10" /> Still, on this regard, Sarkar theorizes that, unlike [[capitalism]], where the production and distribution of goods are mainly decided by market competition, in a Proutistic society it should be based on necessity.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":8" /> The third requirement of economic democracy is the [[decentralization]] of power, giving the freedom to make economic decisions to its stakeholders.<ref name=":10" /> That can be accomplished by adopting a worker-owned cooperative system <ref>{{Cite book|title=Worker and Community: Response to Industrialization in a Nineteenth Century American City, Albany, New York, 1850-1884|last=Greenberg|first=Brian|year=1985|isbn=978-0-88706-046-5}}</ref> and by the use of local resources (raw materials and other natural resources) for the development of the region and not merely for export.<ref name=":10" /> In summary, Prout advocates a decentralized economy where self-sufficient economic zones are created and organized according to a set of predetermined conditions (see socio-economic units).<ref name=":5" />