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4. Universal design advances in both name and reality.

4.1. Deinstitutionalization

In recent years, even in capitalist society, barrier-free society has become popular as a philosophy, but the financial resources are still a bottleneck in achieving complete barrier-free society, and progress has been slow. Communism, which is not financially constrained and is not tied to financial resources, would solve this problem without much difficulty.

In the first place, communist urban planning internalizes universal access, obliges all public places and buildings to be universal design, and promotes the construction of universal design housing. However, no matter how much physical universal design progress is made, it is meaningless if people with disabilities are housed in facilities and chained with invisible chains that prevent them from going out into the city.

In that respect, in capitalist society, where there is a strong idea that people with disabilities who are considered inefficient as a labor force should be "protected" in facilities, in addition to various facilities for the disabled, psychiatric hospitals, which are closer to facilities than hospitals have been developed. However, communist societies are highly capable of abolishing such facilities.

In order to promote advanced deinstitutionalization (demolition of facilities), it is necessary to develop home community care as a prerequisite for it, as is the case with the elderly. In this respect, care for the disabled has much in common with care for the elderly. Therefore, those who can be accommodated at public care station mentioned last time, can be accommodated there, and those who cannot be accommodated at those stations (e.g.mentally handicapped people) can be accommodated by specialized services for the disabled.

4.2. Manufacturing entities mainly for people with disabilities

In the case of persons with disabilities, it is necessary not only to care for them, but also to guarantee their social participation, especially to secure a place to work. Currently, people with disabilities need to engage in wage labor if they want to make a living independently, but the barriers are thick. It is difficult for people with disabilities to be exploited as wage serfs in the same way as ordinary workers, for whom various considerations are essential according to their characteristics.

In contrast, communist labor, as we saw in detail in Chapter 3, is unpaid labor. Since it is labor as social cooperation, it becomes much easier for people with disabilities to find a place to work at their own capacity and pace.

In addition, business entities such as vocational training facilities for people with disabilities who cannot survive the profit-seeking competition will be able to go beyond mere "vocational training" and become independent production entities led by people with disabilities.

In this respect as well, a communist society that is centered not on exchange value but on use value can essentially be a "disabled-friendly" economic system. Production cooperatives, which are small and medium-sized mainstream production organizations in a communist society, are more suitable than joint-stock companies for developing production projects by persons with disabilities themselves because they are not profitable.

4.3. Anti-discrimination and barrier-free minds

Physical barrier-freeness is also important as a foundation for universal design policies, but what is more fundamentally important is the elimination of mental barriers that are latent in general society and exclude people with disabilities. Without it, deinstitutionalization would end up as an illusion.

This barrier-free mind may seem to be a universal issue for human society that is no longer directly related to communism. However, this is not necessarily the case.

The pillar of communist social morality is "anti-discrimination". As we have already seen, communist society is based on social cooperation and mutual aid, so it goes against the fundamental laws of society to exclude and isolate people of different backgrounds.

Therefore, as will be described in the next chapter, from the early stage of basic education (compulsory education), active promotion of interaction and integrated education between children with disabilities and non-disabled children will be promoted, and the awareness of welcoming persons with disabilities as equal members of society will be promoted at an early stage. 

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3. People enjoy comfortable and complete care system.

3.1. Public long-term care

The advanced capitalist society almost overlaps with the longevity society. However, a long-lived society is also a society in which the number of elderly people requiring nursing care increases and the burden of nursing care is placed on society. On the other hand, it is not possible for a small nuclear family with limited manpower to take on all nursing responsibilities.

Therefore, by commercializing nursing care, capitalism moves in the direction of entrusting nursing care services to highly profitable nursing care providers. As a result, the benefits of long-term care services become a beneficiary-pays burden, and long-term care labor becomes highly exploitative and high-density labor.

Contrary to such a direction, communism will establish nursing care as a public service while building a nursing care system that responds flexibly to needs. Specifically, the home care system will be highly enhanced, but "at home" is not limited to the literal home. Numerous public housing with public care will be prepared for the elderly, where caregivers and nurses will be stationed, and it will be possible to move in at any time for free.

By expanding the concept of "at home" in this way, a home care system based on advanced mutual assistance will be constructed, eliminating the need for typical facility care such as traditional nursing homes. As a result, categorization such as at-home or facility becomes relative.

3.2. Integration of nursing care and medical care

The front line of communist nursing care is handled at the commune level, which is the base of life-related administration, unlike regional medical care. Specifically, a public care station will be set up in each district of the commune. In addition to home helpers, home-visit nurses and doctors who specialize in geriatric medicine are stationed here, making it possible to fuse nursing care and medical care.

Individuals who wish to receive nursing care can select their desired care programs based on the doctor's accurate diagnosis and advice. This nursing care station operates 24 hours a day, and even at night it is possible to request the dispatch of helpers and nurses as needed. In addition, it will be a one-stop type with an outpatient daycare function that meets the needs of the individual and his/her family.

On the other hand, atients with multiple illnesses requiring full-time nursing care or patients with advanced dementia who are difficult to care for can be admitted to a hospital-type public long-term sanatorium free of charge.

Furthermore, although the provision of unique services by private nursing care volunteer organizations that cannot be covered by public services is not excluded, they will also be registered with the commune and subject to public supervision.

3.3. Partnership-type retirement model

As the number of elderly people living alone increases as a result of nuclear families, it is likely that some people will say that a completely universal nursing care system  is an unrealistic dream. Therefore, in recent years, in response to the rising rate of non-marriage, a self-contained retirement model for elder singles is sometimes recommended.

At first glance, this seems to be an argument in line with social reality. However, in the reality of a capitalist society where nursing care services have been commoditized, it is nothing less than a model for the old age of the petite bourgeoisie and above who have a principle of living alone and sufficient pension income, assets, and reliable personal connections that can be used for single life in old age. 

In contrast, the so-called "lonely death" problem symbolizes the difficulty of post-retirement life for the proletarian class, who have nothing. Singles in the proletariat class are reserve forces for lonely death.

On that point, as we saw in Chapter 3, since the notarized partnership in a communist society is a system that is easy to use for partnerships between unmarried elderly people,  the number of elderly households choosing the partnership may increase.

Of course, a public nursing care system based on communist mutual assistance would also be beneficial for singles. In that respect, the Social Work Councils set up in each section will incorporate the elderly living alone into the service network as a priority target in the social service plan within the section under their jurisdiction.

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Chapter 5: SKETCH OF COMMUNIST SOCIETY -- WELFARE

2. Pensions and public assistance will no longer be necessary.

2.1. Irrationality of the pension system

The fluctuations in the public old-age pension system (hereafter simply referred to as the pension system), which can be said to be the pillar of welfare state policy, will affect the post-retirement age of almost all citizens, with the exception of a few wealthy people who have sufficient retirement savings. This is one of the most serious fluctuations in the welfare state.

However, it is inevitable that the pension system, which was originally a product of an era when the aging rate was not as high as it is today and the average life expectancy was within a reasonable limit, will fluctuate in an era of declining birthrate, aging population, and longevity. So any promises by the government that pensions will continue into the future sound hollow. It is almost taboo to doubt the rationality of the pension system, but it is true that this system cannot be said to be unconditionally rational.

In the first place, it is too formal a system to forcibly retire or unemploy workers at a certain age and drive them into pension life. There are people who are in their 60s and are still in good health and are motivated to work, and there is no problem even if there are "old and newcomers" who are over 60 and want to try new jobs.

However, under capitalism, old workers are considered to lack usefulness as a labor force. There are two ways to force older workers to retire: applying a uniform retirement age system and dismissing them individually. In any case, there is no change in the desire of capital companies to eliminate the declining productivity of the elderly labor force, which is not worth exploiting.

2.2. Communist retirement life

In contrast, life after retirement in a communist society is simple and free. Compulsory retirement based solely on age, including the mandatory retirement system, is legally prohibited as unfair employment discrimination based on age, so workers can continue to work until their desired age. (As shown in Chapter 3, it is possible that in the early days of communism, the core working generation would be forced to work).

If you feel like retiring because of old age, all you have to do is leave quietly. As is already understood, in a communist society, the money economy has been abolished and all necessary goods and services can be obtained free of charge, so there is no anxiety about life associated with retirement. If long-term care becomes necessary, as we will see in the next section, comprehensive care can be received free of charge, and if it becomes severe, long-term medical care can also be received free of charge.

Conversely, you are free to retire early. In that respect, the capitalist social security system tends to concentrate on old people who have become obsolete as wage serfs. Early retirement is therefore a pipe dream for anyone but the ultra-rich, and young or middle-aged retirees will have to rely on unemployment insurance and welfare services. 　

In a communist society, the situation is completely different. Since people can live without money, there is no need for a poverty relief system such as public assistance, nor a temporary social security system such as unemployment insurance. In extreme terms, both the old and the young can be unemployed with peace of mind.

A properly constructed and run communist society is free from poverty. A communist society, in which labor and consumption are completely separated, is a fundamentally welfare society, and does not even dare to set itself up on a grand scale about the enhancement of welfare.

2.3. Social Work Council

As mentioned above, although a communist society does not need a special anti-poverty system of social security that provides monetary benefits, as symbolized by pensions and public assistance, there is a system of non-monetary social services such as nursing care in a communist society. Rather, in a communist society where the money economy is abolished, such non-monetary social services will occupy the center. 　

Communist social services are not based on the application principle of waiting for applications from recipients. The application benefit principle is one of the measures to control the receipt of benefits in response to the capitalist limit of financial resources. The communist social service adopts the principle of planned benefits, even if the recipient does not apply for it, unless the recipient declines based on a rational reason. 　

In order to make this possible, the Social Work Council (hereinafter simply referred to as the "council") will be established as a public institution in charge of regional social service plans for each section of the commune. The council does not directly provide social services itself, but comprehensively organizes all social services within its own section. 　

Specifically, the task of the council is to keep track of the situation of potential recipients of social services in the section and draw up social work plans that are updated annually for coordinating so that those who need it can receive the services when they need them. Therefore, the chairperson of the council must be a duly qualified social worker, and the council members are delegated part-time to welfare and medical professionals and welfare service representatives within the section. 　　

Multiple social workers are assigned to the council, and in addition to receiving consultations from those who need it, they also discover those who need it based on information from volunteer cooperators and develop activities that lead to the arrangement of necessary services. By the way, regarding child welfare, the Minor Welfare Center is established separately from the council, but the council sometimes cooperates with the center to protect families with children.

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Chapter 5: SKETCH OF COMMUNIST SOCIETY --  WELFARE

A communist society is essentially a welfare society in which everyone can live without worrying about food, clothing, housing, medical care, or nursing care. How is this possible?

1. Welfare system without any financial resources is not a utopian policy.

1.1. Contradictions of the Welfare State

Let us first confirm that so-called welfare is by no means a monopoly of communism, but rather an implication of preventing impoverishment of the working class within the framework of capitalism, as in the often idealized Nordic countries. As discussed in Chapter 1, it was also a form of capitalism with heavy makeup.

However, such capitalist welfare has one decisive limit. It derives from the fact that the bearer of welfare is the state - the welfare state. The state depends on tax revenue for its welfare financial resources. In other words, most of the welfare financial resources depend on the income of wage workers, that is, wage serfs. It was because wage serfs are almost tax serfs.

Even so, during the period of rapid growth and accumulation, when the rate of wage growth is high, national tax revenues will increase, there will be a surplus to implement stable welfare policies and raise the living standards of wage-earners. After all, it's just a de facto tax refund service. The golden age of the idealized "high welfare state" in Northern Europe was the period of rapid growth and accumulation until the middle of the 1970s, or the 1980s at the longest.

Eventually, with the oil crisis, the golden "good old days" ended in the advanced capitalist countries, and as we entered an era of slowing growth and global competition, wage income for workers stagnated and the nation began to fall short of tax revenues. Then, the welfare state begins to shake due to the intervention of the “small government” dogma derived from neo-liberalism = capital supremacism.

In this way, a capitalist welfare state has the contradiction that it thrives when the masses benefit from economic growth and capital accumulation and do not need welfare so much, and comes to a standstill when the masses desperately need welfare in times of low growth and economic crisis.

The necessity of rebuilding the welfare state is sometimes called out, but the wall of financial resources is thick. A tax increase is inevitable, but in such a case, the capitalist nation knows how to shift the burden onto labor rather than capital, so rather than raising the corporate tax, it would start raising the consumption tax for the common people. It is mandatory. If the government were to run into a fiscal deficit that could not be covered by such tax hikes, it would not only face the crisis of rebuilding the welfare state, but also the survival of the state itself.

1.2. Two types of  "welfare society" 

The United States has refused to accept the concept of a welfare state because of its ideology that emphasizes individual freedom. For this reason, when the Roosevelt administration introduced the social security system in the 1930s, facing the Great Depression, it came to be called the New Deal policy, with the implication of revising the social contract of the people.

However, the welfare state is a taboo in the United States, and even after the implementation of the New Deal policy, the capitalist self-help principle has not changed. On the other hand, many of the welfare services are provided by private volunteer groups and profit-making welfare organizations based on the spirit of mutual assistance, making up for the lack of welfare services provided by the state.

In that respect, it can be said that the United States, which rejects the very concept of a welfare state and is based on the principle of self-help, is practicing a kind of communist welfare centered on mutual assistance by the private sector.

However, it is only an external approximation, and its essence is, of course, different from communism. Private welfare in the United States is basically nothing more than the practice of social capitalism, which entrusts welfare services to wealthy people's donations and profit-making enterprises.

On the other hand, it is logically natural that the welfare of a communist society where the state is abolished is not centered on the state, nor is it entirely tossed to voluntary or commercial welfare of the private sector. It will center on a welfare society in the true sense of the word.

Specifically, the commune, which plays a central role in administration related to daily life, and the regional area as an intermediate municipality, which serves as a base for regional medical care, will work together to provide services as the forefront of welfare. In that respect, communist welfare has a strong character of public welfare, but it does not mean that all private welfare will be publicly requisitioned.

In a communist society, all private welfare organizations and private hospitals are refined into unpaid volunteer organizations. This is the inevitable result of the abolition of the wage labor system in a communist society. These private volunteer organizations are registered with communes or regional areas, and under their supervision, they will provide their own unique services free of charge.

1.3. Completely free welfare

It may invite skepticism about whether advanced welfare services can be realized by relying on volunteers. However, isn't welfare originally based on the spirit of volunteerism?

However, there may be some truth to the concern that if even highly skilled professionals such as medical doctors become unpaid volunteers, the number of aspiring doctors will drop sharply, leading to a decisive shortage of MDs.

Indeed, it is possible that today's MDs are attracted by their high income and attract many applicants, but is this the true nature of the profession? It is difficult to understand under capitalism, where even many non-commercial functions have become quasi-merchant based on profit-oriented, but MDs are originally supposed to be public and humanitarian functions specializing in the treatment and prevention of diseases. 

This is related to education, which is the subject of the next chapter. In a communist society, a medical education system will be introduced in which those who have a high awareness of such public functions can become MDs.

In any case, communist welfare, whether public or private, is strongly characterized as a system of mutual assistance supported by gratuitousness because of money system. But its greatest strength lies in the fact that it is to be released from the unstable element of financial resources, which means all welfare entities will be able to fully provide truly necessary services without worrying about money in a communist society.

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Chapter 4: SKETCH OF COMMUNIST SOCIETY --  ADMINISTRATION 

6. A judicial system that does not judge will appear.

6.1. Communist judicial system

Montesquieu, who was the founder of the theory of the separation of the three powers and was himself a hereditary judge of the french Ancien Régime regarded the judicial power as a “terrible power,” and advocated a thorough suppression of it with the symbolic expression, saying “The judicial power is, so to speak, nothing.” He preached so figuratively because he knew that in a bourgeois state the judicial power could not literally be nullified.

The reason why judicial power cannot be nullified in the bourgeois state is that in a capitalist money economy, disputes over money, which is the "capital" for both individuals and businesses, will never cease. In fact, even crimes against life, such as murder, very often involve financial problems in the motive or background.

On the other hand, in a communist society where the monetary economy is abolished, disputes over money will naturally disappear. Nonetheless, if conflicts are an integral part of human society, the need for a judicial power to officially handle conflicts will not disappear.

However, the character of the judicial system will undergo a major change: the authoritarian system of the court, which judges people from the podium, as we have taken for granted, will disappear, and a dispute settlement system that does not judge people will appear in its place.

Such a dispute settlement system, which is broadly called the communist judicial system, is under the juridictin of the Commons' Convention, not the "independent" power, under the Commons' Convention system, which does not adopt the concept of separation of powers. It is one of the contents of commons' sovereignty. Below, I would like to sketch a part of it.

6.2. Equity Commissioner and Truth Commission

The two main pillars of the communist dispute settlement system are the Equity Commissioner and the Truth Commission. In any case, it is not a system that gives forced resolution from above in the form of a "judgment" like a traditional court system, but a system that aims for a more lenient arbitrational solution.

Equity Commissioners are judicial officers who intervene between the parties to the dispute, listen to the claims of both sides, and mediate in the event of civil or family disputes. As a general rule, the Equity Commissioners handle a case alone, but in complicated cases, two Commissioners can be in charge if necessary the Equity Commissioner system.

Since in a communist society the money economy will be abolished, disputes over money will naturally disappear, and most legal disputes are expected to be domestic disputes involving family and kinship, the Equity Commissioner should be suitable.

On the other hand, the Truth Commission is a collegial body responsible for clarifying the truth of crimes—which, as we saw in the previous article, come to be grasped as anti-social criminal acts in communist society—and , will be convened after a request by the tribune of due process, which will be described later. Its function is equivalent to clarification of the truth in a traditional criminal court, but it does not impose criminal penalties, but only clarifies and confirms the truth. 

Equity commissioners are full-time offcers appointed from among lawyers in each commune, and truth commissioners are lawyers, experts suitable for the case, and ordinary citizens with representative licenses in each regional area. It is a part-time position that is appointed on a case-by-case basis. Equity commissioners and truth commissioners are both appointed by the Commons' Convention.

The Commons' Convention with the right to appoint is different between the federal zone and the unitary zone. In the case of the federal zone, both the federal  Convention and the quasi-zonal Convention have dual rights, but in the case of the unitary zone, it is optional whether the zonal Convention or the provincial Convention has the right.

6.3. Correction and Probation Commission

One of the most important changes in communist society is the abolition of the system of punishment. If all crimes related to money, which account for the majority of crimes in capitalist society, are eradicated, the scientific recognition that the few remaining anti-social criminal acts are not crimes that should be sanctioned through punishment but rather pathologies that should be dealt with therapeutically has spread widely among the public. If that happens, new scientific systems of correctional treatment should be developed to replace the penal system.

In response to this, the  Correction and Probation Commission will be established as a collegial body to impose correctional and probationary treatment on offenders. The purpose of this system is to impose optimal treatment on offenders through medical, psychological, and sociological investigations after clarification by the Truth Commission.

The Correction and Probation Commission is composed of experts with specialized knowledge of correction and probation. The right to appoint the Correction and Probation Commissioner shall be the same as for the Equity Commissioner and the Truth Commissioner.

6.4. Tribunes

A tribune is a public official with a long history in ancient Rome whose important mission was to protect the rights and interests of the common people, but it can be revived in a communist judicial system without courts.

The new tribune here is a supervisory judicial officer tasked with defending basic human rights and civil rights in modern times. In this respect, it is distinguished from the ancient Roman tribune, which was a political post.

The tribunes are divided into two types: the general tribunes, which have the widest range of authority, and the specialized tribunes, which have individual fields of expertise. 

General tribunes are appointed by the Commons' Convention of each level and cover all institutions under the jurisdiction of the Commons' Convention, and also conduct complaints and dispute settlements concerning the application and enforcement of laws and regulations, and audit compliance with laws and regulations.

The most important specialized tribunes are those who specialize in due process of law: the tribune of due process. Its most important duties are in the field of criminal justice, issuing various compulsory investigation warrants such as detention warrants, search and seizure warrants, surveillance warrants for interception of communications, secret filming, etc., and the accompanying protection of the rights of suspects and victims. Its main duties include convening the Truth Committee and requesting reconsideration.

In addition, it is also responsible for issuing habeas corpus writs and directly releasing persons, who have been unlawfully or unjustly detained regardless of whether privately or publicly, at the request of the parties, their relatives, or the third parties.

A tribune of due process is appointed by the the Commons' Convention of the provincial area (in the case of the federal zone, the quasi-zone) by determining their jurisdiction for each district, but exercises its authority alone and independently of the Commons' Convention.

In addition, specialized tribunes include tribune for privacy, tribune for laborers, tribune for anti-discrimination, and commissioner for children, who are all appointed by the Commons' Convention of each regional area and extended commune (large city). It is possible to newly establish, consolidate and abolish as necessary according to the policy of each Commons' Convention.

6.5. Jurisprudence committee

In any dispute settlement process, disputes may arise over the interpretation of applicable laws. Under the thesis of separation of powers, it has become common knowledge that the interpretation of laws enacted by the legislature is wholly left to the judiciary, but the Commons' Convention system does not take such an undemocratic and irresponsible approach. There is a jurisprudence committee set up in each Commons' Convention as a body that deliberates disputes over the interpretation of laws.

While a jurisprudence committee is one of the standing committees of the Commons' Convention, it is a specialized committee that has the final power to interpret all laws and regulations except the Charter (constitution)*, and its members are all lawyers who hold the status of special delegate. A special delegate is an observer position that participates in the deliberations of the Convention, but does not have the right to vote.

*The interpretation of the Charter is handled by the charter committee, also a standing and specialized committee in charge of charter issues including its revision and interpretation. For this reason, the members of the charter committee are divided into general delegates and special delegates (judicial delegates) made up of lawyers who specialize in charter interpretation.

6.6 Impeachment Courts

In the communist judicial system without a court system, there is an impeachment court system for public officials as an exceptional one.

A typical example of this is a special court that examines illegal acts such as corruption and abuse of authority by delegates of the Commons' Convention and public officials appointed by the Commons' Convention. However, the judgment of the impeachment court is not a punishment, but is shown in the form of dismissal, suspension or deprivation of civil rights, so it is more like an administrative court than a criminal court.

The Impeachment Court of the Commons' Convention is a non-permanent court that is set up based on the resolution of the Commons' Convention in each level for each case. The prosecutors in charge of investigation and prosecution and the judges are composed of lawyers appointed by the Commons' Convention.

Other impeachment courts include the Special Human Rights Court, which is a non-permanent impeachment court that examines cases of human rights violations by public officials, and the permanent Corruption Tribunal for Public Officials, which examines cases of corruption of public officials and public figures equivalent to civil servants. However, these details are omitted here.