The intention with my texts about commensalism is not to make a political analysis, or to develop a detailed plan for how to build an equal society. I try to outline some simple principles for how to replace the devastating mechanisms of capitalism with an egalitarian system which at the same time takes into account the individuality of man.
I am not a politician or opinion maker nor a driven activist. I have limited intellectual resources, but I have a dream of living in a society that strives for the highest possible equality. That assumes that all people have equal value. That prevents the inherent indifference and injustice of nature forces with systematic solidarity.
Writing about commensalism is my way of keeping that dream alive. It is possible that others have described the same thoughts, but I have not yet found them. I support socialism because it is the political ideology that today has the most real opportunities to make an impact, and who also wants to dismantle capitalism and establish an equal society. But my suggestion with commensalism differs in some crucial points from socialism, as far as I can see.
Commensalism wants to maintain the following functions that also exist in capitalism:
1. The possibility of private ownership of the means of production.
2. A market with free pricing.
But since commensalism establishes a universal salary for both employees and owners, based on an equal distribution of profits from the surplus value of labour, the possibility of accumulating substantial wealth ceases. This limits the effects of inequality and differences the above functions create within the capitalist system.
Based on a notion that if one establishes equal opportunities for everyone, liberal, capitalist ideology assumes that some kind of higher justice will develop, as of itself. Reward after accomplishment. It is just a rewrite of the law of the jungle. Equality of opportunities is a myth because people are different. We will always have different starting points in life regardless of how just the political system is in general. But we can create a society according to the idea of equal value for all people. That requires equality of outcome. That we share the results of our combined work, regardless of the difference in our individual contributions. Young as old, strong as weak. It is equality we choose to create, in spite of an indifferent nature. It is equality that really matters. It is radical equality.