A real example, as in something that existed IRL? I have none that I'm Aware of. The assertion was that the argument between capitalism and communism was one of centralization and decentralization. I was illustrating that that was simply not the case. I don't need a real example of either to do that, since we are only speaking about ideas and how they interact with each other.

There are accepted definitions of both that allow for either to be centralized or decentralized. Thus, the argument between which one is better cannot merely be an argument between centralization and decentralization.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Fair enough the theory of different economic engines allows both to be centralized or decentralized.

As realized the economic engines that were labeled as communist were very centralized.

How would a decentralized communist society look like? How would different communes compete for scare resources? How would disputes be resolved?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

How would different communes compete for scare resources? How would disputes be resolved?

The only straight answers I've ever received on the matter mostly ammount to wishful thinking.

A small community can definitely be communist, and it is possible to achieve inter-communal dependance with mutual trade relationships, but without a medium of exchange I suspect that it'd be far more difficult and other factors make the situation strike me as incredibly unstable, because the incentives to defect could easily outweigh those of cooperation.

The real answer is that I don't know, and we don't have enough data to say what would work.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5,000_Years

I really like this book, and I think it's relevant to this discussion. It talks about how the original currency in history was not money, but reputation and relationships.

Once you scale out to the point where personal relationships are unsustainable, societies and history transition to something more material. Be it transactional barter, or what we think of is money today.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

I appreciate the recommendation! Tyvm.