Peter Fleissner

An interview with Ms. Carol Change by Pierre le Carre

PC: Ms. Change, today "Peer Care" celebrates its 3rd anniversary. How do you assess this newly designed constituent of social security?

CC: I think it is quite promising, although many problems remain unsolved. But I expect improvements over time through the intrinsic structure of Peer Care itself and its capacity for self correcting. You will agree that a period of three years is too short to observe the long-term effects of this innovative institution.

PC: What was the situation like when Peer Care was developed?

CC: During the late nineties, and at the beginning of the 3rd millennium in the developed world we experienced the erosion of basic human values like love, truthfulness, fairness, freedom, solidarity, tolerance, and responsibility. Although our politicians and the exponents of religious communities used them in each public statement, the gap between theory and everyday practice widened. Re-establishing the above or similar values were thought to be the utmost remedy against all the social illnesses of those days, but the actual situation worsened day by day. While on average the overall wealth on earth increased more or less continuously, access to it became increasingly distorted. This happened not only on a large scale, between the Third World and the rich capitalist centers, but within cities as well. The working week was reduced to 25 hours, but still unemployment increased, while alcohol, drugs, individual aggression and homelessness shaped the image of the cities. More and more people - although well off - showed symptoms of anxiety, and many of them became depressive. They felt increasingly uncertain about their future well-being, and anticipated a deterioration of environmental conditions, a higher risk for survival through the unconstrained growth of technology, and and increasing dependency on it. But no-one was able to control the ways of application and the speed of diffusion.

Politicians in power were unable to find a way out of this misery. Their reputation declined steadily. The lack of political control motivated other institutions and groups to gain public influence. This was the hour of Mr. Kirk, the media-mogul. By means of his empire of TVchannels, information and news services, and electronic networks he began a media-war against the traditional political system. And what was the outcome? It was just pure chaos and complete disorganization. The general elections were boycotted. On a poll participation rate of less than 5 percent, no government was able to gain control again. For a while the administration continued to work, but public debt increased and made it impossible to provide public services.

PC: Who were the founders and how did they succeed?

CC: Against this background a small group of young employees, unemployed and students started an initiative to replace and re-structure the social security system by a completely different approach. The members of the group had come to know each other within some "green" framework, and formed a grass-roots community to fight against environmental abuse. Their idea was the following: The social security system has become unable to deal with the growing needs of an increasing number of people. Although some financial means were re-distributed to the clients of the system, there was no success in social integration. The elderly stayed lonely, and had a feeling of being redundant, for the unemployed life had lost its positive value. The efficiency of the system went down, and a lot of abuse was evident.

The group considered coherence of modern society to be difficult because of the growing individualism on the one hand, with its centrifugal tendencies, and the bureaucracies, exerting centripetal pressure, on the other. In such an arrangement the humane component must die. "Society has become colder" was a widespread feeling. To act in a successful way, neither the individual can be the starting point nor the state or other bureaucracies. The individual does not have enough power to be an efficient agent of change, and the bureaucracy cannot cope appropriately with the variety of actual problems of the individuals.

While in the past societies were structured in small groups, and the interaction of the members was based on direct communication as well on the physical and emotional closeness and a shared area of living, modern society with its millions of members cannot share their living in the traditional manner. They considered it necessary to create new forms of closeness, of familiarity, of neighborhood. This idea they applied to social security. They invented the "Social Peer Group".

PC: What is the size of a "Social Peer Group"?

CC: Some tens to fifty persons. Of course the group will only work satisfactorily on a volunteer basis. The group is responsible for a number of clients (one to five) needing social care. The number depends on the total number of people receiving (or better: needing) social aid.

PC: How is the Social Peer Group compensated for its work?

CC: There are two kinds of rewards: The financial and the psychological one. The financial reward is established by an exemption of social insurance contribution. If such a peer group wants to start its work, it has to apply to the still existing Social Security Board for an exemption. The only thing they need is the confirmed subscription of their clients.

The psychological compensation can be seen in the possibly increased contacts and engagement; it is offered by the care activity itself.

PC: Who are the clients?

The clients are mainly unemployed and homeless, as far as they are able to take care of themselves, and - if the Peer Group can handle it - people who need home care to a certain extent.

PC: What is the advantage compared to the traditional system of social security?

CC: The advantage compared with the traditional system is the possibility and necessity for personal interaction of the group with the clients, between the clients themselves, and between the members of the peer group. Social skills can be built up. Decision mechanisms can be invented, and, if necessary, flexibly modified. Democracy can be exemplified by acting in a democratic way. The content of the term "democracy" is not always the same, but this can be deepened by practical experience. A social arrangement will not work just by applying certain logical rules. The emotional level must be brought in as well. Even then there is no guarantee of proper functioning.

There is no need for the group to be related by blood like the traditional family. There is room for selecting the group one wants to interact with on the basis of inclination, maybe affection. So the kinship one goes into is based on free choice.

PC: How did Peer Care start?

The founding group did not believe in establishing social institutions without having first tested them. Therefore it designed an experimental set-up first. By and by, in small-scale social experiments, the Peer Care idea was tested and improved. After some years of experimentation the approach was published via the World Wide Electronic Link (WWEL). All the expectations of the founders were greatly exceeded when more and more people became interested in this method to change the social security system. The difficulties were great. One of the major obstacles which nearly stopped the experiment was the lack of an appropriate legal framework. The national bodies of social security opposed the proposal, and manipulated the media to distribute horror stories about the first experiments. But the cost-explosion worked in the opposite direction. The National Social Security board was finally urged by Parliament to offer participation in the Peer Care system on a voluntary basis.

PC: What was the effect on the traditional system?

CC: Competition with Peer Care drove the traditional system in a favorable direction, too: The National Social Security System increased its own efficiency and improved the quality of services. The cost of social services dropped for two reasons. First, the system could be reduced in size. Less people than before had to apply for social security benefits. Second, by organizing care within the families, the cost of long-term care could be reduced. The direct and personal interaction with the elderly reduced hospital stays considerably. Hospitalization decreased as well. The mental and physical health of the elderly could be extended to a higher age.

PC: Do you think Peer Care will replace National Social Security Systems completely in the future?

CC: No. It would not be a move in the right direction. It should not. The continuous existence of two different systems and a kind of balance between them guarantee a permanent incentive to improve the performance of each. Still, there is a definite need for hospital care which cannot be replaced by care in private homes. The average person can neither function as a nurse nor as a medical doctor. The medical profession and the paraprofessionals will still be needed.

PC: My main objection: Peer Care does not prevent the creation of unemployment. How do you comment on that?

That's right. Peer Care does work ex-post only. It is not preventive in itself. But by the very system people can become aware of the shameful side effects of the capitalist system. They can learn by their own practical experience that the labor market is blind and has to be tamed by forces other than economic ones. They will understand that society has to control the labor market because in an intimate manner they see the burden the market imposes on them. This personal experience is the precondition for any further political action by citizens.

This idea deserves some generalization and makes clear what the founders of Peer Care had in mind: In the 19th century the individual experience of the social was given by social class and by social stratum. Everybody learned during his/her life what it meant to be a blue-collar worker or a farmer, a medical doctor, a nurse or a teacher. The workers experienced a rather homogeneous environment. Essential features of it were intersubjectively shared. So the individuals consciousness of individuals became more similar. The political party, trade union or church offered perspectives which were the shared belief of many members of the same stratum or class. During the second half of the 20th century one could see that society no longer offered a life-long niche to a person. The rapid technological and organizational change caused individuals to move to other jobs, at other locations, into other professions as well as into unemployment. Permanent learning became necessary. Individuals had to be much more flexible than before, and had do decide on their own how, and in what direction, to continue their careers. Nevertheless, political decisions on the side-conditions and the establishment of overall rules for society have to be produced. The problem was that political institutions were not prepared for this new situation, and had great difficulties in adapting to it. The Peer System should be one flexible answer to the changed situation. The underlying idea was to create new politically enabling institutions which not only allow for personal and direct experience (which had vanished through division of labor, to the extent that children thought money was just the output of a bank-teller machine), but at the same time to make action possible (invite an unemployed person to cooperate with you on your job) on a small scale. The system of Peer Care co-evolved with the coming up of the Intrapreneurial Group (IG) Movement. IGs were very efficient in integrating people who were linked to them by the Peer System. They were aware of a number of activities at their jobs which were not carried out simply because of lack of time, or lack of interest, in a particular task. Such work was the basis for reintegration of unemployed, retired, or impaired persons in a way which offered advantages to both sides: to the Intrapreneurial Group, and to the clients of Peer Care.

To comment on the basic problem of unemployment which still remains unsolved, I refer to the actual discussion on the introduction of green taxes. If energy consumption and natural resources are liable to tax in combination with a tax-exemption for wage-income and social security contributions, I think here is some potential for a greater number of jobs. The wage sum to be spent by firms will be reduced because of the canceling of the firms' contributions to social insurance, and the net wage for the employee will be equal to the gross wage-income, thus increasing the wage-earners real income. Through the increase of relative prices for energy and natural resources it can be hoped that in the short run consumers will move toward environmentally sound behavior, and enterprises will invest in more jobs and in energy- and resource-efficient technologies.

Still, a great difficulty remains unsolved: If the stress on the environment is already reduced by green taxes, and the economy becomes more sustainably oriented, the incentive for reducing not only the rate of growth, but the level of economic activity, could vanish. In the past we have experienced a similar example in the paper production industry. While during the late eighties and the early nineties of the 20th century the pollution per ton of paper could be reduced considerably, the fast expansion of the industry within a few years overcompensated the beneficial effects to the environment. By the end of the last century, pollution reached the same level again as at the beginning of the eighties. In the long run, a shift in consumer behavior toward less material consumption has to be intended.

PC: Thank you very much!

Could the Peer System be used in business?

Basislohn gegen Leistung im gesellschaftlichen Bereich

Was soll noch drinnen stehen:

0. AZV

1. Ökosteuern und Basislohn

2. Aufweichen der Trennung von Lohnabhängigkeit und Selbstständigkeit (Brigade-System, Intrapreneuring)

3. Neue Institutionen zur Bekämpfung der Arbeitslosigkeit

4. Neue Unternehmen und damit neue Arbeitsplätze durch tele-Arbeit

5. generelles Prinzip der Freiwilligkeit, aber auch Strukturen für den Rückfall

6. Ächtung von Krieg und Militär, aber auch von Pogromen und physischer Gewalt durch die Individuen

* Ev. kann es im Stil von FAQs gestaltet werden.

* Verweise auf andere Beitraege sollten noch eingebaut werden.