Functional socialism

66 FUNCTIONAL SOCIALISM

purchasing, production, marketing and research’: that a commercial ideology must prevail. This carries us further from, and not nearer to, a new society, with its vision of all our functional units coordinated to produce and distribute wealth on lines of natural and not “‘effective”’ demand; a society easily capable of issuing and accepting credits in recognized ratio to production, of which distribution is an integral part. A new society alert to the larger cultural possibilities in politics, after function takes control of our economic organization.

With this sharp contrast between the Libertarian and Functional schools of thought, we draw to our conclusion. The argument may be briefly summarized: (1) We have passed through both an Authoritarian and Libertarian period; we have reached the age of Function.

(i) Function is the activity or mode of action by which a people fulfils its purpose. By hypothesis, the purpose is, by economic development unrestricted by subjective rights, to establish State and individual upon a sound economic foundation.

(i) This purpose takes priority over all subjective rights. The function is greater than the person, demanding loyalty from the person.

(iv) Function is here limited to the economic sphere.

(v) The citizen in his political capacity can and must ultimately direct economic policy; but its execution must be functional.