Functional socialism

152 FUNCTIONAL SOCIALISM

fruitful cause of tyranny. “The system puts a heavy premium upon gold and a tyrannous discount upon labour.

Thus, not yet understanding function and ignorant of conditions, I stated that value is found in labour and not in commodities produced by labour; I brought use value into its true relation to exchange value. Currency and credit must, each in its own sphere, be governed by functional value; the currency having a scientifie ratio to production, credit becoming what it was intended to be—a contract primarily in terms of time, the money involved being of secondary importance. And, since ex hypothesi we have discarded sterling money, the tokens of exchange between the Guilds and between their members is the “guilder’—a token representing units of labour or units of time, and so accurately recording functional effort.

I have been twitted recently for suggesting that the banks should be the accountancy departments of industry. I am asked why I adopt the vocabulary of Social Credit when I reject it in principle. Social Credit was born in 1920: in 1913, I wrote: “We have postulated that each Guild is its own banker. But just as our present banks have their several branches, so also the Guilds have theirs. These branches would doubtless be the counting-houses of the particular works where the Guild members are employed.” Moreover, the pay of the Guildsmen was to be credited to them in the books and drawn upon by cheques. Each Guildsman was auto-