Halladi Socialism

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Halladi Socialism, also called Halladi Market Socialism, is the form of socialism used in the Halladi Workers' Republic and endorsed by the Solidarity Bloc. It is characterized by the devotion to the theory of permanent revolution, pan-arabism, and cultural revolution. It is generally accepted that only Hallad uses this form of socialism, thusly it is named for Hallad. Halladi Socialism is both a political, economic, and social theory.

The Basic Concept

Hallad, originally a Democratic Socialist nation, has an odd view on Democracy and Revolution. A main doctrine of Halladi Socialism is that the Socialist or Communist Party of a nation comes into power via elections. However, from there on should be dedicated to radical change and their own "cultural revolution." This is strange because the Halladi Socialist Party orginally came to power through a revolution.

The Halladi government follows the radical saying of "by any means necessary," and thus supports revolution in other nations and is willing to export their own revolution. Many Halladi Socialists follow the principle of "permanent revolution," but see a developed nation like Hallad as the center of the revolution. This is different from "socialism in one nation," however. To Halladi Socialists, Hallad and her socialist allies are catalysts to creating international revolutions, especially within the Arab world.

To truely understand the politics of Halladi Socialism, one must realise the differance between the Halladi Workers' Republic and the idea of "socialism in one nation." The concept of the Halladi Workers' Republic pertains to drawing nations together with organizations like the First Communist International or the Union of Socialist Republics, while keeping those nations sovereign. Halladi Socialism is tied in with the idea of Pan-Arabism, as well. The Republic strives to be a place of Arab unity, and often works to create more favourable relations between Arab nations. Ideally, the Arab world would unite under the Republic -- the beacon of Pan-Arabism and Socialism.

The Halladi Cultural Revolution

The Halladi Cultural Revolution is a movement still going on today; perhaps even more vigorously than when it began. The Socialist government has encouraged revolutionary change at a more rapid pace, and egalitarian ideals are supported by the old and young alike in Hallad. People are heavily involved in creating a better government, nation, and world.

There are several main points to the Halladi Cultrual Revolution.

  • Voluntary collectivization of Hallad
  • Direct democracy whenever possible
  • Elimination of all prejudice and racism
  • Elimination of corruption
  • Elimination of private property, while accepting personal property
  • Camaraderie and solidarity over friendship
  • Acceptance of others as social and economic equals
  • Opening Halladis to all cultures, elimination of ignorance

Since the founding of Hallad as a socialist nation, the Cultural Revolution has been described as in its first phase. The "Great Step Forward," as it has been described by Radicals in the Halladi Socialist Party, has yet to occur. Theorists within Hallad see the second phase involving the abolition of Hallad's current parliamentary legislative system. They have said there will be much more emphisis on revolutionary change, rather than progressive change within a parliamentary framework.

Psychological Effects of Halladi Socialism

Psychologist and sociologists from foreign nations have conducted many studies on the psychological effects of living under Halladi Socialism and the Cultural Revolution.

The Hallad the Cultural Revolution is doing good in many ways. Prejudice and racism have widdled down to nothing in Hallad. This can be attributed to three things; one, the Halladi government has a 250-500 Utope fine for racist and prejudice comments made in public; two, socialists in Hallad are not supportive of racism or prejudice and thus see no reason to support it; and three counter-revolutionaries (capitalists) see no reason to waste their Utopes by making make racist or prejudice remarks.

Corruption is a minute problem in Hallad. Unlike many other socialist nations, those found guilty of corruption are often fined a hefty ammount of money. Workers and students have annual seminars in which speakers explain why corruption is not appropriate in a nation such as Hallad. The government officials are often tested to ensure they are not taking any bribes, those found corrupt will most likely lose their position. Another reason for the lack of corruption is the fact that most governmental officials are instantly recallable by referendum, and are removed from power when corruption occurs.

Rural Vs Urban Hallad

There is a drastic differance between the lives of those in urban areas and those in rural areas. Rural areas tend to be highly collectivized, filled with communes and collectives. There is a relatively even distribution of the population in rural areas. They tend to live with no private property whatsoever, but in urban areas people live with more private property.

On a collective children are brought up by the collective more so than their own individual parents. Given their position, this makes sense. They will grow up relying on everyone, the entire collective, rather than just their own parents. These children are known for calling their parents by their nick-names or first names. Psychologists have also noted that in rural areas, children find emotional relationships difficult. Long term marriage and close friendship are not as common as less demanding friendship. In this sense those in rural Hallad have less of a personal life and more of a social life.

People in urban areas are quite the contrary. They have a closer relationship with their parents, and those who live around them (in their apartment complex and housing co-operatives, or at their work/school). Unlike on a collective, urbanites find emotional relationships easy, and tend to be more emotionally guarded. Camaraderie is not as important as friendship and cooperation to an urban Halladi.

Property

In Hallad there are two types of property. The first personal property and the second is collective property. Both play an important part in the lives of Halladis.

Personal Property

Personal property are the common possesions of all Halladis. Clothes, money, CDs, lamps, soda, weapons are all examples of personal property and there are many, many more examples of personal property. Personal property is essentially everything that isn't collective property, a person's personal possessions.

Collective Property

Collective property is what private property, capital, and the means of production are in capitalist societies. There are two types of collective property, state property and cooperative (public) property. Some individual preside over collective property, though they are either democratically elected or selected by the state (in the base of a government-owned company), due to the market-based nature of Halladi socialism. The most common forms of cooperative property are housing cooperatives in urban areas, consumer cooperatives, and rural consumer societies.

The Economics of Halladi Socialism

Halladi socialism has often been described as a marriage between council communism, market socialism, and syndicalism. Like other forms of socialism, wages and prices are regulated by the government, but not set by it. In the past, the economy was heavily centralized, but this has changed in favour of decentralized planning and a participatory economics, whenever planning is used. Few industries are actually nationalized and means of production are in the control of the workers, with guidance and regulation by the government. Under Halladi Socialism, the people (not the government) choose which products should be manufactured with the use of democracy in the work place.

There is private enterprise in Hallad, and most of the economy is private. The government does control industries vital to the nation, but the majority businesses in Hallad are small and co-operatively owned. Businesses in Hallad are ussually controlled by cooperatives, or Democratic Worker Councils, which can sometimes supplied by the government and controlled by trade unions. The government can often contract a collective farm or factory to produce the said supplies, which differs from the system of planning and quotas. This promotes competition between collectives and factories, because, naturally, the government will go to the most productive group, with the highest quality goods. In this way the economy is highly syndicalist as well as socialist. Businesses controlled by Democratic Worker Councils are encouraged by the government. State owned industries are ussually broken into smaller, regioanl firms, which are often -- like the private sector -- worker-controlled.

An exception to this is Halladi Nationalized Arms Manufacturing, Hallad's only defense corporation, which is government controlled and not completely worker-controlled -- and H-Oil, the Halladi oil company. While individual oil refineries or factories may use workplace democracy, the overall corporate structure of the companies do not.

Employment

After ending ones education, the job hunt begins. Those who are able to work but do not, recieve little to no help from the government. Halladi Socialists argue that if one does not contribute to society, one should not recieve society's support. The only exception being if that person is unable to work due to physical or mental conditions. During education, it is required that students take aptitude tests on their final year of secondary school (Year 12) and their final year of university (Year 16-18). While university education is not compulsary, it is essential to recieving a more desirable job, and a job which suits the person best.

Hallad has a well-developed vocational and trade school system. This system is set up to provide the nation with large numbers of skilled workers. As Hallads economy is very industry-oriented, this has caused sharp increases in the standard of living.

Another factor in Halladi Socialism is that, unlike most other leftist states, there is little state welfare. Welfare is provided to those who are unable to work, whether it be a physical or mental condition, and students who are still job-hunting. Those who are able to work, but choose not to do not recieve the support of society and are encouraged to leave Hallad. Fortunately for Hallad, there are few people who would rather leave the nation than work. Being a nation of mostly muslims, private charity makes up for whatever the government does not provide. It should be noted, however, that the property of non-approved emigrants is seized by the government.

Incentive

Many Halladis are devoted to the concept of the "Greater Good," especially those who live in rural Hallad. However, for those who find wages more entising, wages do differ and are not fixed. The government helps to fix the inequality of this by a progressive tax rate, which depends on the level of wealth. There are also minimum wage laws, and Hallad used to have maximum wage laws. The minimum wage is U62.50 ($12.50) per hour, as set up by the Living Wage Act of 1992. The Maximum Wage was U500,000 ($100,000) per year, as set up by the Economic Equality Act I of 1986. The Maxixmum Wage was repealed in the Economic Growth Act of 1990.

Examples of Halladi typical yearly income:

  • Premier of Hallad: U2,500,000 ($500,000)
  • Red Army Soldier: U175,000 ($35,000)
  • Republican Guard Soldier: U210,000 ($42,000)
  • Red Navy Soldier: U160,000 ($32,000)
  • Hawk (Air Force) Pilot: U200,000 ($40,000)
  • Government-Contracted Smuggler: U250,000 ($50,000)
  • Oil Refiner: U400,000 ($80,000)
  • Engineer: U150,000 ($30,000)
  • Arms Salesman: U140,000 ($28,000)
  • Factory Worker: U125,000($25,000)
  • Collective Farmer: U110,000 ($22,000)
  • Teacher: U170,000 ($34,000)
  • Police Officer: U125,000($25,000)

Working is also much easier under Halladi Socialism. The average workday is four to six hours for industrial workers, with rotating scheduals so work places are always functioning with well rested workers who have more vigor -- the national work week is 35 hours. In a workers spare time they are encouraged to do volunteer work to help imporve society, especially in urban areas. Scientists often work in a lab for several hours, then continue working on their own time at home, in a more relaxed enviorment. Many Halladis sepnd their "free time" creating art, which can be shown off at local conventions.

Taxes

Despite Hallad often being described as a state with a one hundred per cent tax rate, this is not so. The average Halladi has a tax rate between fourty and fourty-five per cent, while wealthier Halladis pay between fifty-five and sixty per cent. Even top government officials must pay the same taxes as everyone else. There is a reletively high corporate income tax, standing at fourty-five per cent. Religious institutions are also taxed, except on charity works, as though they were a company. They do, however, pay a lower rate - only twenty-five per cent. On goods there is no sales tax, however.

Unlike many capitalist nations and liberal democracies, even those in government must pay taxes. The Premier earns a salary just like everyone else, and is expected to be treated as an equal of anyone else in the Republic. As such, he and other top government officials pay taxes just like everyone else, and recieve similar benefits as the average Halladi. This is partly because of the image that blends people and the state together in Hallad -- in order that the State wither away.

The Collectivist Union

The Collecitist Union is an organization which watches over rural Hallad, making sure it functions properly. It has a political wing, the Collectivist Party of Hallad, and is operated by rural politicians, collective farmers, and other rural Halladis. The main job of the Collectivist Union is to ensure all collective farms are producing their quotas. And, if a farm is struggling to reach its quota, it will step in and investigate. If it is found that the farmers are genuinly trying to reach their quota, they will do either of two things. First they will petition the government to lessen the quota for that farm, to ease the stress on the farmers. Secondly, they will allocate them surplus from other farms to help make up for the loss, temporarily. If that is not enough, they will ask that the government step in to either provide subsididies (an action which is rarely taken) or to take control of the farm.

See Also


Hallad2.png The Workers’ Republic of Hallad Hallad2.png
Main article: Hallad
Characters: Hasan Muhammad, Rashid Hassan, Mustafa Fenris, Musab al Sadr, James Cross
Government and politics: Government, Bill of rights, National Workers' Assembly, Solidarity Bloc, True Directorate, Collectivist Party, Halladi Socialism, First Halladi Civil War, Homat el Diyar
Economy: Halladi Nationalized Arms Manufacturing, Tamil-Ukana, Agriculture in Hallad, Public Sector of Hallad
Military: Halladi Red Army, Halladi Red Navy, Halladi Red Air Force, Republican Guard, W.P.A., Frontier Corps, Workers' and Peasants' Army, HAP-1 Automatic Pistol, HAR-1A Assault Rifle, Halladi-Hattian Conflict, Halladi-Shessaran War
Miscellaneous: Erse, Federated Directorate (defunct), Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera International, Halladi Desert, Education in Hallad